“Freaky shit.Nasty shit.Like what?”Eduardo asked pulling away to stand.“Micah is a picky eater.He has tons of sensory issues from everything from how things smell, textures, and even sounds.What is left for him to get freaky and nasty with?Ohh!He does like feet.Do you think he is a toe-sucker?”
Ryanne’s eyes grew wide.“I don’t see Micah putting someone’s foot in his mouth.”
“This is very disconcerting to me.I think I shall go and ask what he means by the freaky and nasty...he is not fond of animals,” Eduardo said, reaching for the door handle of their bedroom.
She stopped him.Bringing him back to the bed.“Take a breather.It’s unlike you to worry about such matters.”
“Andres saying he is into some freaky and nasty shit, I would be like, that tracks,” Eduardo said.“But Micah...ear wax creeps him out.What freaky stuff is he doing?I really am wondering and would like to know these things.”
Ryanne pulled her husband into a seated position on the bed.Gently, she began massaging his shoulders.Slowly, he began to relax.Again, she asked him to talk to her, especially after returning home yesterday from having to deal with an employee in the field.He seemed to be off.
She repeated, “Talk to me, Eddie.”
“Yesterday afternoon, I had to deal with a man for thievery, and twenty-four hours later, I had to deal with a young woman stealing my heart.”
“Stealing your heart?”
“Alita.How did she know how to do that, to bring him down, to get him to open up and share all of that?”Eduardo said, pulling away from his wife.“Not only did she bring him down, but she also ensured we were included in the conversation, and she had him lay out his train of thought.How did she know how to do that?”
“I taught her,” Ryanne said.“Well, not all of that, but how to center him.Years ago, I showed her how to use a piece of hard sour candy to shift his focus, but what we witnessed was something altogether different.Husband, can you explain the ‘stealing your heart’ part?”
“Did you see how Angel was included in that come-down?He practices with them.She called for theEmberá Chocó, and he was ready.She went soaring through the air, it was beautiful.”He stood, his hands in his pockets, a slow pacing ensued.A deep sigh preceded his next words, “Every parent wants a life partner for their child or children who is there for them, who can be a companion and a helpmate,” he began.
“I like Diadra,” he said to his wife.“She is good for Yuñior, but once she saw me handle Tonda, she’s kept a wide berth of me.My grandchildren, she is always present when I spend time with them as if she doesn't trust me.It hurts, but she is their mother, and I must respect that.In time, perhaps she will come around, but I do not see it.”
“And Andres?”
“That woman Roxana, she has the shifty eyes,” Eduardo said.“His marriage is a benefit to both me and Eleon since Bolivia touches his borders as well as Peru’s, but I don't get the warm and fuzzies from her.She is marrying for power and position.”
“Alita?”
“She loves him for who he is,” Eduardo said.“In everything that was happening at Perona de la Mar, she had the wherewithal to remember to bring Angel the steaks he asked for, and she even brought me the yummy beef sausages Eleon makes for his family and dignitaries.”
“She brought me some lovely rib eyes as well,” Ryanne said, “but I worry; they are so young.”
“I was only twenty years old when I married.”
“Look how that turned out,” Ryanne said, scowling at him.
“We, and I say that collectively from the viewpoint of The Cartel,” he began, “have learned over the years, and we are maturing as men to see the larger picture.Yuñior and Irena changed the dynamic, and having Irena on the Board of the Conclave of Vipers has brought a new direction for matching the children.Under her direction, the young women now have a chance to attend Uni if they desire before marriage and learn a skill that can earn them a side income of their own.Some marry early and attend Uni together like Micah and Alita plan to do, but change has arrived.”
“It is a change that worries me for her, Eddie,” she said, using the private name chosen between them.“She has spent the last four years basically serving as his nursemaid, in no uncertain terms.Now she will spend the next six years alongside him and then bear his children.My heart aches to think she will have to take on the tantrum of little Benicio while her husband is in the other room having one as well.”
“Little Benicio,” Eduardo said, smiling.“He is naming him after me.I like that.I also hear your words, but she is not his nursemaid.Somewhere along the line in their past four years together, I think she became his muse.The numbers she used...what was that Fibonacci sequence?”
“Yes, so random, but it worked.Micah also has your singing voice.”
“I know, right!I've never heard him just sing like that, openly,” he replied.“I learned a lot about him today.He said all the things I never could or never would about Eleon and Anya.Micah drew the line at the boundaries with his grandfather and hung up on the man.I was proud.”
“How will it impact matters going forward?”
“Micah has outflanked him,” Eduardo said.“The treatments he's been working on for crops and poultry feeds, he sent each of the men a test batch to partner with them and their farms.He doesn't need to marry their daughters to form a partnership for Colombia.”
“Does he remind you of yourself?”
“No, he does not; he is something different,” he answered.“He is the version of me I wish I could be and can't.I must be politically savvy, savage in the face of transgression, and kind for my people.He will walk into a room, call everyone stupid, and explain in detail why they are, and at the end of his spiel, they will agree that they have been dumb.I can't do that.”
“Is that what he did with the young women he met at the gala?”
